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Fighting Bid Rigging in Public Procurement in Mexico - The State of Mexico Report, 2012

‌The Government of the State of Mexico (Gobierno del Estado de México, GEM) is the largest of Mexico’s 31 states in terms of the annual volume of goods and services purchased. It spends approximately 23 percent of its annual budget on public procurement. Buying effectively and avoiding bid rigging are therefore key to generating savings for the State’s taxpayers.

In September 2011, the Governor of the State of Mexico, Eruviel Avila Villegas, decided to seek the assistance of the OECD to improve the State’s procurement practices and to step up its fight against bid rigging.

A month later, the OECD signed an agreement with GEM and the Mexican Competition Authority (CFC) so as to train competition officials on procurement practices, analyse the State of Mexico's current legal framework and assess if it conforms to the OECD Guidelines for Fighting Bid Rigging.

This report fulfills this agreement by:

detailing and analysing the Federal and State legislation, regulations and practices governing public procurement in the State of Mexico.

suggesting changes to align the laws and regulations more closely with the OECD Guidelines and to increase the safeguards against collusion.

issuing over 30 recommendations in specific areas on how to improve procurement procedures to avoid collusion amongst suppliers.

This publication was launched during the visit of John Davies (Head of the Competition Division) to meet Eruviel Avila Villegas (Governor of the State of Mexico) and other top Mexican officials from public agencies and the Senate Economic Committee.